Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025
All 34 people sentenced in the District of Puerto Rico for obscenity and other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. 29 (85%) received a prison term, and the median was 18 months, the same as the median for all 94 districts. 41% of guilty pleas had no written plea agreement.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–202 › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: District of Puerto Rico
In brief: All 34 people sentenced in the District of Puerto Rico for obscenity and other sex offenses in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 pleaded guilty. 29 (85%) received a prison term, and the median was 18 months, the same as the median for all 94 districts. 41% of guilty pleas had no written plea agreement.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 34 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
34 of 34 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. For all districts, 99% pleaded guilty in this offense type, and for all offenses in Puerto Rico the rate was 98%.
Among guilty pleas, 59% had a written plea agreement and 41% were straight pleas with no agreement. With no trials, the data has no trial sentences to compare with plea sentences.
Which Offenses Are in This Category?
"Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type, assigned from the primary guideline in each case. Only 2 guidelines appear in this district's cases.
§2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter) was the primary guideline for 17 people. §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) was the primary guideline for 16. These cases were less than 1% of the 9,794 people sentenced in the district.
Prison Terms
Of the 34 people, 29 (85%) received a prison term and 4 (12%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all districts, 95% were sent to prison.
The median prison term for those sent to prison was 18 months. A quarter received 27 months or more, and a quarter received 13 months or less. The median for all districts was also 18 months, and the median for all offenses in Puerto Rico was 60 months.
Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Within the range were 19 sentences (56%). Below the range at the government's request were 3 (9%), and below it without a request were 6 (18%). Above the range were 6 sentences (18%).
The share within the range was 54% for all districts and 54% for all offenses in this district. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 34 people (0%).
Supervised Release, Restitution, and Criminal History
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 29 people (85%), with a median term of 36 months. No fine was ordered (0%), and restitution was ordered for 2 (6%).
In criminal history, 53% were in the lowest category and 3% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure has no military counterpart.
Counts by Year and Limits
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 12 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 22. Yearly counts range from 1 to 8. In fiscal year 2022, 5 people had a median prison term of 60 months, and in fiscal year 2024 1 person had a median of 0 months. Counts this small should not be read as trends.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The records cannot show why yearly medians differ.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 21 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2017 | 5 | 18 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2018 | 4 | 12.5 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2019 | 1 | 17 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2021 | 5 | 24 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2022 | 5 | 60 months | 5 of 5 |
| 2023 | 8 | 19.5 months | 8 of 8 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 36 months | 3 of 3 |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Puerto Rico (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Puerto Rico") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (34). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Puerto Rico, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.